I'm continuing my buddy read with @eliv_bookstagram with this book. I'm not usually a fan of the step-siblings trope since it's rarely done without getting too weird, and though this did get weird in some situations, I still enjoyed it overall.

Garrett has been feeling a little lost lately. With most of his friends happily in love, he feels this pang of loneliness that he can't quite seem to be able to shake off. Which leads to him getting drunk alone at home, which in turn leads to him downloading an app that would allow him to find someone online for some company. What he doesn't expect is to see his stepsister working as a cam girl on the app. What is even more shocking is that he's enraptured by her.

Before his mind can follow up with his actions, he gets in touch with her via the app anonymously, and that interaction leaves him feeling things he hasn't felt ever. He decides that taking a break and visiting his parents and Mia would be a good way to figure out where all these feelings are suddenly coming from and hoping to put them to rest.

Mia has been in love with her stepbrother for as long as she knew the meaning of it, but he's never seen her as anything more than an annoying little stepsister. So she'd resorted to being bratty in order to hide her true feelings from him. When Garrett shows up to their lake house, things seem different between them somehow, but she can't pinpoint how or why. As Garrett voluntarily spends time with Mia, her feelings get even more tangled up with this change in his behavior, and he can't help but feel drawn to her the more he understands who Mia has grown into as a person.

Firstly, what I'm liking in this series is the way the sex club and these kinks are explored. As someone who wasn't into reading anything to do with sex clubs or BDSM-related stuff because I couldn't make sense of why someone might enjoy a certain kink, this series helps with understanding just that.

In Mia's case, who was an exhibitionist (as someone who never got the appeal of it), even when she's on display for everyone, she holds a sense of authority and power as she decides how much she's willing to give and what she allows others to see. There's also a certain thrill in holding the attention of a crowd that way, who are just as invested in your pleasure as you.

I liked Mia. She was strong, confident, and curious; however, she was also too easily influenced by Garrett. I didn't get why she thought Garrett was the love of her life when their relationship has been strained for years and they know next to nothing about each other, so it seemed more like a teenage crush to me. In some ways, Mia kept changing her statements regarding Garrett, and I didn't know what to believe, and it felt like she kept justifying his actions in her own head and rearranging her thoughts accordingly to maybe make herself feel better.

Garrett definitely pissed me the hell off with the dual identity he kept dragging. It felt manipulative and downright diabolical since Mia kept feeling guilty for wanting two men, especially since she confessed to loving him. He was sweet and comforting online but rude and antagonizing in real life. The whole situation of him sending her a sex toy as "Drake" to use with Garrett just made me lose it. Although we do get why he was this way when his past is revealed and I do sympathize with his situation, in that moment his actions were inexcusable.

Garett's flashback chapter from a decade ago was hard to read, and it made me so emotional, and I wanted to hold him and hug him. Learning about his struggles with depression made me understand him better and why he did certain things. Why he was so closed off, afraid of looking too closely at his feelings when the voices in his head kept making him feel a certain way.

But I liked that he finally took that step to open up about his struggles with Emerson and Mia after feeling ashamed, weak, and vulnerable for so long and having to hide his emotions behind easy smiles and charm. And being with Mia and finally letting his feelings out also helped him take a step towards working on his mental health more seriously.

Romance-wise, I do wish these two had had more substantial, meaningful, important conversations, which didn't happen. Half the time they were fighting and the other half they were screwing. Even from the start, they just randomly started bringing up sex and making comments about fucking each other, which was kinda icky. So I wish there would've been a way to establish a genuine bond or connection between the two for it to be more believable. Mia, in her own words, was too accommodating when it came to Garrett, and she needed to ask for more for herself and much sooner, in my opinion.

I didn't like the way Garrett was being a total asshole with Mia from the start. His feelings about their relationship over the years also kept altering with chapters. First he said she's a brat who always wanted both their parents attention, so he kept his distance from her, then he said he always loved her and was distant because he wanted to protect her from himself and his mental struggles, then it was also said that they were close and had good sibling moments like teasing and bickering, then in the flashback scene they didn't seem to even tolerate each other. So it was a little all over the place and kept me confused.

However, once Garrett makes the decision to give their relationship a chance, he is all in, and I liked him more when he started being honest about his feelings. Also, I have to mention what an absolute gem Emerson is for being a true friend to Garrett.

The way their parents accepted their relationship far too quickly and easily made me a little uncomfortable because they'd been in each other's lives for 15 years, and even if they weren't close, they still had a sibling relationship at least.

Mental health is considered a subject of taboo in itself in so many ways, so I liked that Sara helped Garett transition from that to owning up and seeking help. This is something that could resonate with many readers as well.

The spice I most definitely loved, and it was hot as hell. Even things I hadn't previously liked in books were doing it for me here. I loved how confident Mia was in her skin, how she was unapologetic for liking and wanting what she did and took it without needing anyone's permission. That was sexy as hell. I liked the scene when Garrett apologized to her on the stage 'cause wowww!!!